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Sunday, 13 August 2017

This month the club was treated to a 15mm re-fight of the Battle of Asculum 279BC fought between the emerging power in Italy, the Roman republic and the Hellenistic mercenary army led by King Pyrrhus, invited into southern Italy by the Greek city of Tarentum in their struggle with the Romans to remain independent.

This period is very interesting in the development of Rome and its army as it is the first time that its forces went up against an Hellenistic army using tactics and forces that had enabled Alexander the Great to dominate the preceding era and would test the Roman system, coming up against massed pike phalanxes and elephants.

The rule set used for the game was an interesting choice as well, as followers of our club blog and JJ's Wargames will know that we have been play-testing Augustus to Aurelian (AtoA) rules by Phil Hendry for use with battles set in its intended era, the Roman Principate.

Fellow DWG member Nick was interested in trying the set out for this much earlier period in Rome's history where the formations and tactics can be somewhat different but the attraction of the core rules were enough to see if, with appropriate modification, they could be made to work with elephants and pikes.

The basic rules were, in our opinion, ripe for adaptation, with Phil already having included Phalanx rules into his original set to allow for Emperor Caracalla's pseudo-phalangites, to this Nick added a few other ideas including rules for Elephants and some modifications to the command system, which were only small changes to the core system. After a test game away from club between Nick and Steve L to test the new rule additions we present the game played yesterday at this months club meeting.

Nick spent a bit of time producing and sending out the necessary briefings and positional maps so we could speed up the process of game set up once we got to club.

The map below shows the part of the battle of Asculum we were representing with the main Roman and Pyrrhic lines facing off against each other, whilst to the Pyrrhic rear right flank lay the Roman III Legion situated on a woody hill and threatened by large forces of Greek style hoplites supported by Pyrrhic cavalry.

The Roman battle plan assumed the Pyrrhic line would be keen to close and attempt to overturn the Italian foot on the Roman right flank with their effective Samnite infantry supported by massed pikes to their right to help crush the Roman IV Legion and roll up the line.

To prevent any such manoeuvre the Roman command opted to attack in echelon bringing the Campanian hoplites supported by the IV legion in against the Pyrrhic right flank to turn and roll up the Epirote phalanx whilst using our secret weapon, the war wagons to fend off the Pyrrhic elephants as the cavalry attacked forward to link up with the III Legion as it attempted to break out off the hill and add to the pressure of the Pyrrhic right flank. The Roman right flank and the Italian foot would refuse the flank aiming to cause the Samnites to do a lot of marching that would see them hanging out in the wind as their line was rolled up by Romans and Campanians - what could possibly go wrong?

Below are the forces listed together with pictures of our initial set ups:

Battle Asculum Day Two
Roman List

Roman Army Commander : Publius Decius Mus Level 4

·2 x Medium Roman Cavalry

Roman Infantry Right Wing : Italian foot

·Commander
Level 2 (C&C Rating 6)

·2 x Leves Javelins

·2 x Italian Medium Infantry Hoplite Long Spear

·2 x Italian Infantry

Roman Infantry Centre : Roman IV Legion

·Commander Level 3

·1 x Leves Javelins

·2 x Velites

·2 x Hastati

·2 x Principes

·1 x Triarri

Roman Infantry Left Wing : Campanians

·Commander
Level 2 (C&C Rating 6)

·2 x Leves Javelins

·2 x Campanian Medium Infantry Phalanx Long Spear

·2 x Campanian Infantry

Roman Left wing : Roman Cavalry

·Commander Level 2 (C&C rating 7)

·1 x Medium Roman Cavalry

·2 x Roman Cavalry

·1 x Medium Campanian Cavalry

·1 x Campanian Cavalry

·2 x Light Cavalry

In Support Anti Elephant

·2 x War Wagons

·2 x Velites

III Legion

·Commander Level 3

·1 x Leves Javelins

·2 x Velites

·2 x Hastati

·2 x Principes

View of the two lines looking from behind the Roman left flank with the III Legion out on the hill top left

Battle Asculum Day Two
Pyrrhic List

Pyrrhic Army Commander : Pyrhus
of Epirus Level 4

·2 x Royal Guard Cavalry

Holding force.

·Commander Level 3

·2 x Medium Epirote Cavalry

·2 x Macedonian Cavalry

·2 x Light Cavalry

In Support Elephant
Force

·2 x Elephants

·2 x Light Infantry

Pyrrhic Epirote (Facing IV Legion)

·Commander Level 2 (C&C rating 7)

·2 x Medium Phalangites Infantry Pike Phalanx
Drilled

·2 x Phalangites Infantry Pike Phalanx

·2 x Skirmishers Slings

Pyrrhic Greek (Facing
Campanians )

·Commander Level 2 (C&C rating 6)

·2 x Medium Hoplite Infantry Phalanx Long Spear

·2 x Hoplite Infantry Phalanx Long Spear

·2 x Skirmishers Javelins

Samnite Division (Italian
foot )

·Commander Level 2
(C&C rating 7)

·2 x Medium Linen Infantry Long Spear (Small Unit)

·1 x Linen Infantry Long Spear (Small Unit)

·3 x Linen Infantry Pila (Small Unit)

·2 x Light Infantry

·1 x Leves Bows (Small
Unit)

Supporting Force

·Commander Level 3

·2 x Athamanians
Hoplite

·1 x Acarnanians
Hoplite

·3 x Samnites Infantry

View from the Roman right flank with the white shielded Samnite infantry to right of picture with plenty of marching to do to get at the Italians on the left of picture

So with both armies set up we were off and the first chits were being pulled from the bag. AtoA uses a chit or card driven activation system common to many 'Lardy' style games and a favourite activation mechanism in the DWG club.

Better formations and leaders get more chits to make it more likely for them to activate first and with AtoA this is incorporated with 'Carpe Diem' chits which start the game in the players hand representing better command and control before the armies come to grips when the commanders influence on matters starts to decline.

Pyrrhic cavalry face back and to the front with elephants in close support

The Roman command was keen to bring on the battle in the order they had planned for and so early play of these chits was needed to make this happen.

We had a large number of chits in play so to balance the game back towards that declining control, the chits would be returned to players but with only a 33% chance of getting them back.

The Epirote line of hoplites and Pikes

As the game progressed this lack of chits would become all too apparent for the Romans, but by then it was down to the soldiers to do their stuff.

Those elephants would be a problem as they were a new weapon to the Roman forces

The Roman plan started with mixed success as the cavalry came to grips first with the Pyrrhic horse getting the best of the first exchanges causing a few nervous glances from the legate commanding the IV Legion.

The III Legion prepares to break out

However, soon after, the Campanian hoplites struck at their Epirote opposition and after stiff fighting, that left both side shaken, the Epirote division was forced to retire from the line as its general rode about attempting to rally his men.

The Epirote hopiltes supported by cavalry prepare to attack the Romans on the hill

As the Campanians got stuck in, they were joined soon after by the first line of the Roman IV Legion as it closed on the Epirote phalanx in duplex acies formation.

However despite the volley of pila that struck the phalangites the Roman attack was held as the pikes refused to give ground.

Roman cavalry ready to attack towards the III Legion

With the infantry lines on the Epirote right going toe to toe, the Roman III Legion attempted to break out off the hill but a combination of poor chit draws and a lack of Carpe Diem meant that the Epirote holplites with support from copious amounts of cavalry were able to quickly amass on the Roman left forcing them to turn and fight.

The Roman line with Campanian hoplites closest to camera, then the IV Legion in the centre and the Italian foot top left

The cavalry battle out on the Roman left degenerated into a typical to and fro affair until the Campanian mediums started to get the upper hand and driving in their Epirote opposition. But by this time events elsewhere had already started to make their efforts irrelevant.

The principle attack formation was the Roman IV Legion in the centre

The powerful Epirote phalanx

The Campanian infantry had done sterling work in initiating the Roman attack and taking their end of the line but the battle had left them vulnerable to counter-attack and that was when they were hit by the elephants.

The Samnite infantry on the Epirote left flank

King Pyrrhus leads his companion cavalry along the rear of the Epirote line

The Roman attack begins with the echelon approach starting to take shape as the III Legion moves off the hill

The attack proved irresistible and the Campanians were forced to retire which left both the III and IV Legions exposed to attack in detail with little chance of any support soon.

The Roman right flank is refused with the Italians hanging back to cover the flank of the IV Legion

Battle is joined as the Roman and Pyrrhic cavalry joust on the flank nearest to camera

As the Campanian infantry celebrate success at driving in the Epirote hoplites they are hit by an elephant counter-attack. Where are those war-wagons when you need them?

The Roman war-wagons were further back than intended due to the laborious movement rates of ox drawn wagons and thus despite the best efforts of the velites to shower the elephants in javelins the Roman left was forced back.

Pyrrhus leads his elite cavalry over to his threatened right flank

The III Legion is thwarted in its attempt to get off the hill and link up with the Roman cavalry

Those Samnites are looking tired marching around on hot day like this

Meanwhile the Roman IV Legion was locked in mortal combat with the Pike phalanx as the Samnite hoplites closed on the Italian infantry with the threat of surrounding the Roman infantry unless they sought to break contact soon.

The Italians turn to face the Samnites as the Roman IV Legion hits the Epirote line

The Pyrrhic line had held firm and resisted the Roman attempt to turn it and thus we determined that with the Roman cavalry achieving a level of ascendancy of the Roman left, now would be the time for the Romans to start to break off and we ended the game there with a Pyrrhic victory.

Epirote hoplites mass against the Roman III Legion as it comes off the hill

The game had run along quite smoothly despite half the players not having played AtoA and the other half not having played for a while whilst also getting to grips with a few rule adaptations.

Nick and Steve are to be congratulated with coming up with some suitable additions to allow the rules to handle this period of Roman warfare and with my own collection of 28mm Roman EIR's and Dacian's about to be worked on I found myself eager to play more games with these rules together with thoughts about doing this period in 28mm Victrix plastics - now there is a thought!

Thanks to Nick for organising the game and all the DWG players for a very entertaining and fun afternoon of play.

Sunday, 23 July 2017

Operation Hooper was an SADF & UNITA attempt to destroy FPLA forces guarding the approaches to Cuito Cuanavale in Angola. On the 13th January 1988 FPLA 59th Brigade pushed UNITA back and occupied their positions. The following morning SADF units counterattacked 59th Brigade, whilst UNITA forces put in diversionary attacks on adjacent sections of the Angolan army line, to prevent them being able to support 59th Brigade. With 59th Brigade forced to withdraw, Cuban tanks and mech infantry pushed up to prevent 59th Brigades destruction, by turning the SADF flank.

We played using my SADF and Chas's FPLA & Cubans in 15mm, to "Cold war Commander" rules.
These are fast play rules, with an emphasis on command and control. Each vehicle or stand of troops
represents a platoon and commanders give orders to platoons or groups. Whether these orders are acted on, is determined by a die roll that must be under or equal to the commanders rating to succeed.

The game opened with my Oliphant tank company (think Centurion 105s) and Ratel 20 battalion
pushing up through the centre, supported by an SP AT company (Eland & Ratel 90s) and a battery of
Ystervark AAA. This provoked an aggressive response from the FPLA, with a T55 company and two
companies of infantry pushing out of their positions and moving towards the SADF making good use
of cover.

The SADF now had some command and control problems, which led to a halt in their advance and
the SP company failed to act on orders to move and bring the T55s under fire. Grasping the seriousness of the situation, the commander sent the Oliphants to take a position in scrub on a low
rise, to protect the flank of the SADF attack.

With the Ratels back on the move, the SP AT company brought the FPLA shell scrape trenches under
fire. This drew a vicious response from the BM 21 batteries, with the FAO calling in accurate fire on
the Elands, forcing them to fall back and inflicting casualties.

Not to be out done the SADF FAO called deadly fire down on the FPLA trenches from two batteries of G6 SP artillery.

Seeing their allies suffering, a company of Cuban T55s and a battalion of mech infantry tried to flank
the SADF attack. Taking fire from the Oliphants, the Cubans sought to use cover and redirected their
APCs to directly support the FPLA trenches. The Cuban commander sought to order the nearest FPLA unit to follow him. They considered the instruction and shot him dead.

With the FPLA FAO suppressed, the Ratels moved up to cover on a ridge and brought the FPLA under more fire. A mortar company now joined in and things looked bleak for the FPLA, as the supporting Cuban APCs and FPLA tanks were suppressed and taking casualties from the G6 barrage.

Rallying his suppressed T 55s, the FPLA commander threw caution to the wind and sent them racing
across open ground towards the Ratels, only to cross the Oliphant gun line. The Oliphants were given the order to engage, only to fail to respond and the opportunity was missed. The SADF commander reacted and the FAO called down 155mm fire on the T55s. Bad time for a blunder and a worse one to call fire on your own position. Having suppressed himself, the FAO took cover.

As the T55s fired on the Ratels, the SADF lost a platoon of IFVs. Things looked bad, but Karl Gustav fire from infantry deployed by the Ratels, knocked out a number of tanks and the G6 fire suppressed the rest.

With Cuban T 55s moving up, mounting SADF casualties caused their commander to order the
Oliphants to cover the Brigade's withdrawal.

A good game, played in good spirit, with more "blunder rolls" than I have seen in ages. The result
was historical, with the FPLA getting mullered, the Cubans taking casualties, but rising SADF losses
forcing a withdrawal. Naturally both sides claimed victory.

Saturday, 15 July 2017

This was the first outing of Nick’s newly reconstituted Romano British and Saxons and very nice they are too.

The game set up with the Brits on the top of the hill guarding two exits. It was up to the Saxons to attempt to use one of these exits to get off the table and so win.

On the Brit left Dave set his troops up behind some very convenient walls and waited for hell to be

unleashed

Steve M had the middle/right with troops which were obviously very hard core and also waited. There was a lot of waiting.

The Saxons countered this by putting a holding force of three Levy Warband’s opposite Steve M’s really, really very good troops. This should be emphasised. These troops were commanded by Steve L.

Steve H (not to be confused with Mr Steve) had the Saxon right with the bulk of the Saxon forces.
His job was to force an exit at the best possible speed and win the game for the good guys.

Things on the Saxon left started as a lot of games do with an awful lot of nothing but a few arrows
being shot. I suspect that Steve M could not believe that we would be dumb enough to face him
with such a small force and was obviously laughing fit to burst that he forgot that he might be able
to come off the hill and give me a right royal shafting. No he wasn't laughing he was waiting.

Meanwhile on the Saxon right Steve H started his assault up the hill into the teeth of a ferocious
defence be put up by Dave and his very plucky Brits. Saxon warband’s are point in the right direction
and let them go and as long as it is straight ahead you have half a chance of them doing some damage.

Steve’s warbands went at the walls hacking and yelling and gradually started to push the Brits back.
The Saxons were now joined by their allies, the Irish. The ferocious little beggars went at everything
in sight and, along with the Saxons were winning their way through.

Meanwhile up comes turn 4. The moment Steve M was waiting for. Ian’s cavalry arrives, good they
are too, straight into the left flank of a warband. Mayhem. I think it was Napoleons heavy cavalry
suited and booted and transported back in time. Anyway these guy’s put the warband to rout and
now comes a whole series of rout’s forcing the Saxons back to the mass and their leader who is
waiting to try and rally them.

We now got into a problem with the rules as we could not see how the routing units could continue
to fight normally but we could not see where this was covered in the rules perhaps someone could
point us in the right direction.

To try and hold the Brit cavalry the Saxons committed their Noble Cavalry but as it was only a small
unit, all it could do was enable the routing warbands to fall back to the commander who managed,
temporarily, to rally them. The Brits were relentless though and eventually wiped out the Noble
cavalry and then tried to attack the Saxon Noble infantry.

Steve M having waited, and seen where the attack was going decided not to impede Ian’s cavalry,
turned to his left and marched off to add his weight and support to Dave’s plucky Brits. Steve H has by this time almost pushed Dave off the table but had nothing left to deal with Steve M’s
troops as well.

As much as I was goading Nick by telling him I was going to write this up as a crushing win to the Saxons, I have, with all honesty and gritted teeth, to admit that it was in reality a decisive Romano/British victory.

Despite our few issues with the rules it did move quite quickly and very bloodily and I think everyone enjoyed the game.

Our thanks to Nick for allowing us to use his nice figures, although I believe he now is going to

replace some of the figures because he doesn't like them. By the way the only breakage was by Nick